Friday, November 14, 2008

My Love/Hate Relationship with Texas

I grew up in a state that has four distinct seasons. That is what I'm used to. It doesn't matter that I've lived in this state for 13(!) years I still expect to see all four seasons. But Texas only has two seasons, "hotter than all get out" and "not so hot." In my world mid-November means cool weather. You need long sleeves, maybe a sweatshirt, very possibly a coat.

Well today it was approximately 80 degrees and I was too warm with jeans and a short sleeve t-shirt on. It doesn't feel like Thanksgiving is two weeks away it! It feels like I should be planning a trip to the beach!

As I write this a cold front is moving in and it is pleasantly cool outside. Tomorrow jackets will probably be needed - at least for the morning hours! But by Turkey Day we may be running around in shorts! Argh!

But, on the flip side, I don't have to invest in heavy duty cold weather gear times four! So far there have only been a handful of days that we have needed jackets. Which is great because finding and getting on four jackets adds at least 10 minutes to every outing. And then you have to keep up with them and find somewhere for them in the van. And remember to hang them up. I can't begin to imagine how crazy I would be if I had to get heavy coats, gloves, scarves and hats on four children and keep them all from loosing said gear. Ugh, it makes me nauseous just to think about it.

Here, one fleece jacket per kid is about all that is needed. Actually, my favorite coat is the 3-in-1 coat from The Children's Place. I usually buy them at the end of the season for the following year and can usually get two years out of one. They are great for Texas because most of the time the fleece coat is enough. When it is colder or raining, the thicker water resistant outer coat is perfect. On the rare occasion it actually gets really cold or there is freezing parcipitation, zip the two together and you still have the perfect coat for the temperature.


Then there are the months of July and August and even September...
Jenn

1 comment:

Brenna and Molly said...

I have to say I get a kick out of swapping out my hall closet twice a year. I have one of those 4 drawer carts that goes from being labelled with "Hats, Swimsuits, Goggles, and Pool Toys" to "Hats, Mittens, Scarves, and Ski Pants." The downside of fall/spring here is the temperature varies so much day to day that we need to have both seasons of clothes handy. Tough when space is tight!